Mr. Soul: Background

The piece was written by Neil Young and first recorded and released by Buffalo Springfield in 1967. “A lot of songs take a long time to write,” Young said during a later live performance. “Generally they take an hour and a half, two hours to write. But this one took only five minutes.” Young subsequently recorded other versions of the song, often with marked stylistic changes. Of all of Young’s songs, “Mr. Soul” has been released the most times. The main riff of the song recalls “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones.—Wikipedia

The piece was one of the songs Alex and Geddy played as part of their set in the band’s earliest years, Neil says in the liner notes to Feedback.